Thin electronic screen technologies are known in the art and include liquid crystal displays (LCDs), organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), light emitting polymers (LEPs), polymer light emitting displays (PLEDs), and electroluminescent displays (ELDs). Many of these technologies can be implemented on flexible substrates with electronic processors or controllers that produce a display of digital content.
In another technology area, symbologies are used to provide coded forms of data that can be delivered to a computer system using a “reader.” Common symbologies include barcodes and coded icons. Readers typically come in one of four formats: pen readers or wands, laser scanners, CCD scanners, or camera-based readers. A reader scans or otherwise acquires an image of a symbol and reflects information back into the reader in a variety of forms based on the type of reader used. This information is then decoded and sent to a computer system for a variety of uses. These uses range widely from industry to industry. Three exemplary uses include (but are not limited to): labeling of a product, tracking of goods or services, and inventory control.
Barcodes, coded icons, and other types of symbologies are typically printed on a paper or plastic substrate. The substrate could be the product itself (as in Direct Part Marking or DPM), packaging for the product, or peripheral product materials, such as instructions or labels associated with the product. Symbologies can represent many types of information including for example, numerals (0-9), letters (A-Z), special characters (space, −+.$/%), ASCII characters, check digits, error correction codes, etc. Furthermore, readable symbologies can be printed using various printing technologies, including inkjet printers, commercial multicolor press printers, thermal printers, laser printers, and embossing.
Basic symbologies include one-dimensional numeric, alphanumeric, and two-dimensional symbologies. New types of coded icons have also been created. For instance, a three-dimensional barcode can be embossed on a surface and read with a “reader” that reads in three dimensions, including the “z” (depth) dimension, to obtain the coded data. Another type of coded icon, called a data glyph, is comprised of a series of printed slash marks that can be formed into or hidden behind a logo. More specific types of symbologies that are currently used include: Interleaved 2/5, Industrial 2/5, Matrix 2/5, Datalogic 2/5, Airline 2/5, CODABAR, Code 39, Code 32, Code 93, Code 128, UCC 128, UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN-13, EAN-8, Addon-2, Addon-5, PDF417, Data Matrix, Bumpy Barcode (3-d barcode), ArrayTag, Datastrip Code, MaxiCode, SmartCode, QR Code and Snowflake Code.
A symbol, such as a barcode or a coded icon, carries data that is interpreted by a light-emitting scanning device that “reads” the symbol, decodes it as necessary, and sends the decoded data to a computer system for use within that system. Symbologies are extremely valuable to and are pervasively used in almost every industry. At the present time, symbologies provide static symbols that occupy a certain amount of space on a product or on packaging or peripheral materials related to the product, depending on the symbol standards and the specific industry of the product. However, space on a given product, product package, or peripheral materials associated with a product is typically at a premium and is often used carefully and strategically. What is needed is an apparatus and method for displaying information, such as a coded symbology, that can provide alternate displays of information using the same space.